Unlike Bruce, I scored a 27 . Which fits in nicely with "A first-generation upper-middle-class person with middle-class parents" (depending on how you define middle-class and upper-middle-class).
Does that make me part of "the super wealthy, super educated and super snobby who live in so-called super-ZIPs: cloistered together, with little to no exposure to American culture at large"? I don't know that I'd call myself super-wealthy (though I'm familiar with the percentiles), and I really try not to be super-snobby.
Maybe I need to watch more network TV and go to the movies more often.
Reshared post from +The Bruce, Mile High
I scored a 61
Reading the typical ranges and demographic backgrounds, I suspect mine is lower than might otherwise be expected due to my no longer watching much TV aside from sports.
(h/t +Carey Rasmus)
Do You Live in a Bubble? A Quiz
Paul Solman interviews author Charles Murray about his book “Coming Apart” at a local diner near Murray’s hometown of Burkittsville, Md. White America is coming apart at the seams. That’s the thesis Charles Murray, a libertarian political scientist at the American Enterprise Institute, …
Just out of curiosity – 23. Of course, being Canadian, quite a few of those "Have you ever lived in a U.S…" questions were… let's say, "skewed".
I got a 47. Which is about what I'd expect based on the questions. My family growing up was never wealthy, but we were upper lower or lower middle class by most standards.
I couldn't even answer question 1. How am I supposed to know if my fifty nearest neighbors have college degrees? I have met two of them, and have no idea if they went to college.
34, although my time on an Indian reservation skewed my numbers.
+Dave Hill, I actually thought of you when considering one of my responses: Do you have friends with whom you disagree politically. 😉
This brought to mind something I'd heard a few months back about possible reasons for the level (and seeming ferocity) of political animosity both in the halls of government as well as in the new "public square." In it, the commentator was lamenting the decline of "Bourbon" or "Whiskey" Politics (I don't recall which and neither of those brought up a hit that resembled what I was looking for). At one time, lawmakers would meet after work for a drink. Getting to know someone more socially often leads one to understand their point of view to a greater extent and a willingness to compromise. This is nearly unheard of today, at least according to the commentator.
What I see as nearly as great a danger to US society as the bubble insulation exposed by this author and quiz is the self selection and thus "bubbling" of political thought. I feel like rather the odd bird these days as someone who seeks out and cultivates friendships with persons of greatly divergent political view.
+Scott Randel, that you have only met two and know little about their background may be a byproduct of being in a bubble. 😉
55.
I got a 29, but I didn't read the explanations for the questions. On things like beer and restaurants, it seems to assume that if I don't like the options, I prefer more highbrow choices, when actually I don't drink or eat at any restaurants. It scored me the wrong way on some of them. 🙁
+Scott Randel Does their trailer hold a power boat, or a bedroom and kitchenette?
It is definitely not a perfect quiz. I found it at mildly diverting/amusing. I thought some of the questions had a great deal of overlap while other topics that might be revealing of societal schisms were ignored (such as technological awareness and usage).
+The Bruce, Mile High, I'm just antisocial. I think my bubble is different from the "social bubble" the quiz is trying to identify.
+The Bruce, Mile High At some point in time, it seems the political leadership (and their constituents) became less interested in collegiality and more interested in ideological purity and winning.
Granted, we used to have duels and fisticuffs on the Congressional floor. But we also used to have a lot more politics that resembled the sheepdog and wolf Warner Brother cartoons back in the day.
Apparently I’m upper middle class, probably second or third generation. One is English.
Agreed, +Dave Hill. I wonder what types of incentives could be constructed to promote more social interaction and perhaps a more congenial atmosphere and the possibility of compromises advancing societal rather than ideological goals. Of course, without the same thing taking place at the grass roots level, the legislators would no doubt consider themselves in danger of rejection by their core constituencies in the next election cycle.
75 for me… I was raised a poor black child…
Dave, all that Charles Murray’s stupid test proves is:
a) you do not live in a red state.
b) you do not live in a rual area.
c) are not a member of the Tea Party.
d) you are under 65.
All it was, was a giant bit of concern trolling that allowed our useless press to fret about the rural/urban generational divide without having to actually discus it.
Yeah — the more I thought about it the more overblown the text around it seemed to be. I think it’s interesting, and I do think there are aspects of it that are of value, but definitely not something to fret over.
I scored 32, but I think the descriptions of various categories at the end are bogus in the extreme, and I'm confused about the point of the whole thing. If the idea is that some people need to drink more cheap beer and hang out with smokers, then WTF? But if the idea is that class stratification is new or more extensive now than it has been in the past, I call baloney! There has always been class stratification in the United States, and I think there are good reasons to think that it's less extreme now than it was in the past.
P.S. I know that there are two Bransons and two Jimmy Johnsons, so which way should I answer on those questions?
+The Bruce, Mile High I'm afraid that "incentives" to "civility" strike me as teachers telling kindergartners to get along together.
(Though, to be honest, Kay's school district, in each school, has done a hell of a job teaching kids to be kinder to each other in many ways than anything I ever experienced. So maybe there's hope for Congress.)
Part of the problem, to be honest, is that people are also cynical about congresscritters all being corrupt and out for themselves and not really all that different between the parties — which the image of interpartisan social contacts only serves to reinforce.
+Dave Hill, when groups essentially say to each other "if you don't play the way I want, I'm going to take the ball home so nobody can play" on a regular basis, I have no problem with your characterizing possible corrective actions as kindergarten disciplinary actions.
Looking at the explanations for the questions was interesting; in the end, the `quiz' is badly mislabeled. As far as I could see, the question about having a friend-you-disagree-with was the only question that actually addressed, "Do you live in a bubble?" Everything else was just attempting to label which bubble you live in, between the only two possible choices: Working-class conservative or upper-middle-class liberal.
…What, you mean people might fall into other categories than those? Huh.